Before he took power he passed for a model of Confucian virtue, which
白居易 turned into a warning about judging too soon:
周公恐惧流言日，
王莽谦恭未篡时, 'the Duke of Zhou in the days he feared slander, Wang Mang while he was still humble and had not usurped'. Had either died then, no one would have known the truth about them.
